by Bianca Garilli, ND In 2015, the prevalence of diabetes in the United States was 30.3 million Americans or 9.4% of the population.1  In the same year, over 12 million emergency department (ED) visits or 25% of total ED visits were made by patients with diabetes aged 45 and older.  This number is 6 times higher than ED visits made by patients with diabetes aged 45 and older.2  Overall the number of ED visits by patients with diabetes, as diagnosed in…

Pain Management: Symptomatic Relief of Inflammation: Robert Bonakdar, MD Inflammation impacts numerous systems and can be challenging to treat. In this talk Robert Bonakdar, MD Director of Pain Management at Scripps Center for Integrative Medicine, discusses these pathways and ways to approach the inflammatory response upstream to prevent silent and chronic inflammatory states. Understanding inflammation, its stages, and the pathways can help clinicians and researchers improve health outcomes. Presented at the Integrative Healthcare Symposium Annual Conference (IHS) in New York City…

by Ashley Jordan Ferira, PhD, RDN Diabetes has reached epidemic proportions in the US: 30 million US adults have diabetes (90-95% type 2 diabetes [T2D]), with another 84 million living with prediabetes.1 The most influential, modifiable risk factors for diabetes include overweight/obesity, lack of physical activity, and smoking.1 With diabetes-related medical costs and lost work/wages totaling $245 billion/year,1 the US cannot afford to let this epidemic remain unchecked. Clinicians who are equipped to implement successful, evidence-based lifestyle interventions for their…

The health and lifestyle choices a mother makes during pregnancy has immense impact on the unborn child during in-utero development and beyond.  It is well known that drinking alcohol during pregnancy can lead to fetal alcohol syndrome; taking certain medications such as isotretinoin, a common acne drug, can lead to birth defects; and consuming inadequate quantities of folate while pregnant can increase risk of spina bifida and other mid-line defects in the child. Ingesting inappropriate types and quantities of medications,…

by Bianca Garilli, ND Guidelines for reduction of diabetes risk consist of recommendations such as: Losing 5-7% of your starting body weight if overweight Following a healthful diet by lowering caloric intake, choosing water in place of sweetened beverages, and reducing fat in the diet, particularly trans fat Engaging in 30 minutes of exercise 5 times weekly1 More specific recommendations are discussed on the National Institutes of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease website including resources for following the Choose…

by Lewis Chang, PhD A new dietary intervention trial demonstrated that a low-caloric lacto-ovo vegetarian diet and low-caloric Mediterranean diet were equally effective in reducing body weight and fat mass in healthy individuals, with different beneficial effects observed for blood lipids.1 Previous epidemiological studies and meta-analyses of clinical trials have found various health benefits associated with the vegetarian diet and Mediterranean diet. Researchers from University of Florence (Italy) recently conducted the first randomized crossover study to directly compare the effects…

Total Patient Care Management: Knowing the Predisposition of Chronic Disease - Robert Martindale, MD, PhD In this presentation, “Total Patient Care Management: Knowing the Predisposition of Chronic Disease,” Robert Martindale, MD, PhD of Oregon Health & Science University discusses how to get ahead of chronic disease in an aging population by reviewing current research and clinical experience. Dr. Martindale explores unique challenges associated with aging, including malnutrition, sarcopenia and anabolic resistance, cognitive decline, obesity and chronic inflammation, and gut/microbiome health.…

15. Insights from the Metagenics Lifestyle Summit 2015 in Phoenix, AZ: Charles Serhan, PhD In this short video, Dr. Charles Serhan discusses the differences between specialized pro-resolving mediators (SPMs) formulations for clinical application. He indicates that different product formulations must be assessed for efficacy for specific uses. Further, SPMs themselves are natural molecules and are not all created equally. They are tissue-specific, so some promote tissue regeneration while others are more effective at phagocytosis, for example.

12. Insights from the Metagenics Lifestyle Summit 2015 in Phoenix, AZ: Charles Serhan, PhD Specialized pro-resolving mediators (SPMs) offer an exciting opportunity to treat and manage the inflammation often associated with chronic disease. The precursors to SPMs are omega-3 essential fatty acids, EPA and DHA. In this short video with Dr. Charles Serhan of Harvard Medical School, Metagenics Institute inquires about whether it is possible for humans to consume too much EPA and DHA. Dr. Serhan responds that it may…

Specialized Pro-resolving Mediators (SPMs) in Real World Clinical Practice presented by Jennifer Stagg, ND Jennifer Stagg, ND, is a healthcare practitioner in Connecticut who actively uses nutritional solutions to help her patients achieve better health. She frequently sees patients who are experiencing chronic inflammation. In this webinar, she describes her experience seeing patients who have conditions that involve chronic inflammation and the solutions she uses to manage the underlying inflammation and the condition itself. We know that chronic inflammation is…